The Stocking
by Altonish
Summary: Sarah receives her first ever stocking. She's slightly overwhelmed by the gesture. This is a story about how the stocking changes her Christmases forever. It's mostly fluff. 100% Charah.
1. Chapter 1 Casa Bartowski 2008

_**A/N: I wrote this in the car on the ride to my relatives house for Christmas. Please excuse the fact that it's somewhat pointless holiday fluff and probably fairly nonsensical. It's Christmas! I'll be posting the rest of the chapters over the next few days. It's all written except the final chapter.**_

_**Disclaimer:**_** Other people own Chuck, this little piggy got none.**

**Casa Bartowski 2008**

"Sarah," Chuck prodded.

"mmmmuuuuuhhhh" she replied burrowing deeper into his comforter.

"Come on, wake up, it's Christmas."

"Hate Christmas, bed comfortable." Sarah pulled the comforter over her head so she was just a lump in Chuck's double bed.

Chuck turned the comforter down and ran the backs of his fingers across her cheek. This caused the edges of Sarah's lips to curl into a smile, but she kept her eyes firmly clamped shut. "Come on, I brought coffee..."

"Coffee?" She popped one eye open hopefully.

"Yep, and Ellie's making pancakes." Sarah frowned slightly. "I'll put some chocolate chips in yours."

Sarah grinned. He always knew.

"You're adorable when you're sleepy."

Sarah suddenly felt warmer inside. She sat up on the bed. "Coffee?" she asked again.

Chuck handed over a large mug of freshly brewed coffee with milk and a one cube of melted Godiva's in it."

"MMMmmmMMM" Sarah mewed after she took a sip.

"Santa came." Sarah tilted her head to the side as she looked at him curiously.

"I thought you gave me my present yesterday?"

"Hey, it's not me, it's from Santa."

"Chuck…"

Instead of letting her object he leaned over and kissed the side of her mouth. "Come on sleepy head, everyone's waiting. Let's go open presents."

Sarah took a moment to enjoy Chuck's affection before she swung her feet out of the bed and pulled on the robe she'd brought with her. She shuffled into the living room of Casa Bartowski. Sure enough, there, by the fire, were stockings. Right next to a tattered and sad looking stocking that said "Charlie" was a hand sewn stocking with the name Sarah embroidered into it. Sarah stood staring at it, struck dumb. Chuck walked up next to her and put his arm around her. "You made me a stocking?" she asked.

"Ellie did it."

Sarah turned to the kitchen and asked. "You made me a stocking?" she asked with a pained lilt entering her voice. She was NOT going to cry.

Ellie looked up from where she was cooking bacon. "Oh, yeah, I hope its okay. Chuck said you didn't have one and …"

"Excuse me…" Sarah cut across her.

She ran towards the bathroom, but Devon had it locked so she dove for the safety of Chuck's room. She blinked and took a series of rapid breathes. A few moments later Ellie slowly opened the door to Chuck's room. "It's terrible isn't it?" Ellie said cautiously holding the stocking. "I made Devon one a couple of years ago. Chuck said you didn't have one and so I just thought…"

"It's amazing," Sarah stopped her. "I've never had one before."

"You okay?"

"Sorry," Sarah replied. "I'm being dumb. I'm just…I'm not good with family I'm a little overwhelmed.

Ellie took a few steps into the room and gave Sarah a tight hug. "One of these days I want to talk about your past. Chuck says you don't like to talk about it and that's fine, really. I just want to make sure you know that you're a part of our family. Chuck's a bit thick sometimes…"

"No he's not, he's amazing!" Sarah argued.

Ellie gave her a beaming smile. "Yeah he is. It makes me so happy that you guys found each other and you know, whatever happens with your situation, you'll always be a part of our family."

Sarah's stomach dropped a bit. She'd come to share Chuck's reticence about lying to Ellie. "Yeah…" she said wistfully.

"Here." Ellie handed the stocking to Sarah. "You can replace it with a better one next year if you want. I just wanted to make sure you had one."

"No way, it's perfect…"

Ellie smiled and hugged her again. "Come on, I left Chuck with breakfast. That's dangerous." Ellie hooked an arm around her and pulled her back out into the main part of the house.

Ellie laid her head and Sarah's shoulder as they walked down the short hallway. "You know it's okay to show emotions here, right? You're safe here." Sarah's eyes burned as they walked out to the living room. Chuck gave her a concerned look from where he was flipping pancakes. She gave him an encouraging smile and he just nodded.

Devon walked up to them and put his arm around both of them. "Merry Christmas, babes. Two girl hug, awesome!"

Ellie smacked Devon on the shoulder. They sat down and had breakfast together. Sarah ate with one hand and her stocking clutched in her lap as if it might escape. After breakfast they adjourned to the couch. Ellie, Devon and Chuck retrieved their stockings. Chuck sat on the couch next to her, disappointingly far away. Devon and Ellie dove right in, but Chuck was just watching her. "Go ahead," he encouraged her. "It's not going to open itself."

Sarah was confused at first as she pulled out tiny bathroom toiletries. Then she realized that Devon and Ellie had some similar items. Hers were all the correct brands she used. "Ah good," Chuck said. "Some extra's to keep in our bathroom here."

"What?" Sarah asked.

"Well you should just keep some here. You know, for when you stay over," Chuck explained.

It was a little thing, but something about it made Sarah want to launch herself at Chuck. "There's a basket in the bathroom cupboard for your stuff," Ellie added offhandedly. "Let me know if you need more room."

Sarah whipped around. "Really?"

Ellie laughed. "You guys have been going out for a year, but other than a few photos I can't even tell Chuck has a girlfriend. It's not right."

"Well the pictures and the fact that Chuck is a totally new man. That's a good hint too," Devon added.

"Yes, there is that," Ellie agreed.

"He's not a new man," Sarah argued reflexively.

"You're just good for each other," Ellie assured her.

"Chuck are you kidding? Totally new man, confident, happy, hard working, care free, that's all you Sarah. I was beginning to think Stanford left him a broken man…"

"Gee thanks, Awesome."

"Hey, bro, I love ya, but I'm just saying Sarah's been awesome for you."

"There's more," Chuck nodded towards the stocking.

Sarah found Godiva chocolate. Nail polish in the color she most commonly wore on dates, not missions. A crystal snowflake ornament, that Chuck and Ellie let her put on their tree. Sarah reached to the bottom of her stocking and found an orange and a small jewelry box. She glanced at Chuck and he was watching her carefully. She opened the box to find a silver charm for her bracelet. It was a C.

Sarah got up from where she was sitting on the couch took one step and sat down squarely across his lap. She kissed him once and then wrapped her arms around him and put her forehead against his neck and held him. Chuck wormed his arms around her and held on to her. She felt accepted and loved. She didn't deserve this, she'd killed a man yesterday and today, she felt whole again.

She didn't even notice that Devon and Ellie had left the living room until Chuck's hand slipped down to her hip. She was acutely aware of the progress it had made down her hip Sarah looked around to find them sitting alone in the living room and she found herself disappointed that its progresses stopped. "Where did Ellie and Devon go?"

"They're taking a shower and getting dressed."

"Oh," Sarah sighed. "I guess I should get up then."

Chuck sighed. "Yeah, probably."

Sarah didn't move. She actually wrapped herself more possessively around Chuck. "I don't want too."

"I don't want you to."

"Kay."

Sarah and Chuck stayed snuggled together on the couch until Devon and Ellie came out of the bathroom half an hour later. "Your turn," Ellie declared.

Chuck patted Sarah's thigh. "Go head."

"Dude," Devon said when he got up. "You guys are so weird. It's Christmas, go enjoy a little shower time together. Ellie and I aren't going to tell anyone."

Sarah grimaced after she walked past Devon and Ellie, but she could hear the uncomfortable silence behind her. She turned and looked back to see Ellie gesturing vehemently that Chuck should follow Sarah.

"What?" Chuck finally asked.

"Go with her…" Ellie whispered, but not quietly enough that Sarah couldn't hear her from Chuck's room.

"She likes her privacy in the bathroom," Chuck responded.

"Chuck, you guys have been dating for a year. You sleep together, surely you can take a shower together?"

"Ellie, just don't"

"Bro, the Christmas shower is a time honored tradition…"

"Just STOP!" Chuck said aggressively. "I do not need anymore information about what you and my SISTER do in the shower."

The last thing Sarah heard before she closed the bathroom door. "Totally not awesome, Chuck."

***

Sarah was brushing out her hair, a towel wrapped around her body when Chuck knocked. "Sarah?"

"Yeah, come in." She called.

She looked over her shoulder at Chuck whose eyes bulged when he saw her. She loved that she could still have that effect on him. "Sorry." Chuck muttered planting his eyes squarely on the floor. "They wouldn't let it go. I'm not a perv, I promise."

"You don't think I've figured out by now that you aren't a perv?" Sarah laughed "It's okay, you can look."

Chuck's eyes slid up her body to where her towel blocked his view part way down her thigh. When he finally met her eyes he looked like he could devour her. She wanted to drop the towel and push him into the shower, but instead she turned and said. "Get in the shower, I won't peek."

Chuck looked entirely uncertain at this turn of events. Even though she had turned her back, she knew Chuck was still watching her and not getting undressed. "Chop, Chop," she said over her shoulder. She heard the shower turn on and the gentle rustle of Chuck's clothes coming off.

When the shower door closed Sarah went back to her primping in the mirror. She snuck a peek at Chuck in the mirror as she put on her eyeliner. She knew she shouldn't, Chuck had proven quite shy about his body, but it was too good of an opportunity to update her fantasy profile. Chuck was showering with his back to her. Sarah came to the somewhat startling realization that his actual butt was much cuter than she'd anticipated. She needed to look away as she felt her body react to seeing Chuck naked. Her body certainly didn't need anymore encouragement, if she was going to behave herself today.

Chuck finished quickly and asked Sarah to throw him a towel. He emerged a minute later with the towel wrapped around his waist and Sarah was treated to an unobstructed view of his chest. Her hormones got the better of her as she stepped towards him and ran her fingers down his chest. "You look good," she told him. Somewhat adorably, Chuck blushed and even his chest tinged slightly red. Her mind screamed at her to stop, but she pulled his head down anyway and kissed him. He was hesitant at first, but responded after a moment. His arms wrapped around her and she became acutely aware of how little terrycloth was separating them.

Sarah pulled away. As much as she wanted to continue, she'd already gone too far.

"What was that for?" Chuck asked.

"I'm only human." Sarah smirked. "You can't expect me to ignore how good you look."

"I didn't know that was allowed."

"It's not," Sarah shook her head. "Thank you, for my stocking. I…" She couldn't think of any way to express herself that was sufficient, so she kissed him again. This time she let her own hands explore his back. She was fascinated by the feel of the muscles in his back. She felt Chuck's hand on her thigh begin to slide under the edge of her towel. Sarah wanted to feel his hand touch her more sensitive parts more than anything, but she couldn't, not now. "Thank you, for today," she told him. "I love my stocking."

"You're welcome."

They eventually managed to get redressed. Sarah watched Chuck in the mirror as she got dressed and she was slightly disappointed that he didn't try to sneak a peek at her. Deep down she knew he wouldn't, he was too honorable to invade her that way, but she couldn't help her desire for Chuck to see her. She supposed that was the reason she wore such revealing dresses on their cover dates.

Chuck had already given her, her present. So when they opened presents later that day she received a sweater from Ellie and a picture frame from Devon with a picture of she and Chuck together. He was standing behind her with his arm around her shoulders and his chin resting on the top of her head. In the photo she looked more comfortable than she could believe. They looked natural together.

They spent the rest of the day snuggled on one end of the couch with Ellie and Devon on the other watching Christmas movies. Morgan and somewhat surprisingly Anna came over for dinner later that evening. It was the first time in Sarah's life that Christmas hadn't held any disappointment. She settled down with Chuck in his bed after her happy day. She pulled Chuck's arm around her and snuggled into his chest. "I like Bartowski Christmases," she told him.

Chuck kissed her temple and she felt like she was home for the first time since her mother died.


	2. Chapter 2 Casa Bartowski 2009

_**Disclaimer**__**: Looked in my stocking. The rights to Chuck weren't in it. Next year maybe Santa will listen. Until then, I don't own Chuck. **_

**Casa Bartowski 2009**

Sarah woke up with her head resting on Chuck's chest. He was running his fingers over her face. "Santa came," he told her softly.

"Santa?" she asked sleepily. "My stocking?"

Chuck nodded.

Sarah popped up and scrambled for her robe. She realized that Chuck was laughing at her. "Hurry up, I want to see what Santa brought," she told him.

Things had changed a lot in the last year. She and Chuck had become resigned to the fact that they would be working together for a long time. The sexual tension had largely abated, but Sarah had accepted that she loved Chuck. She no longer tried to hide that fact, they just dealt with it. Chuck seemed happier being confident that she loved him and she still nearly melted every time he told her. Their relationship was now more about boundaries than hiding the truth.

They didn't have sex, but they frequently spent the night together. Sarah didn't wear sexy lingerie and they kept their kisses calm a chaste. Urgent needy kisses left both of them uncomfortable. It was definitely the most rewarding relationship Sarah had ever been in. It was also the weirdest. Casey had come to the realization that they made a better team if Chuck and Sarah were open with each other and was satisfied, that they knew where to stop. That wasn't to say that he loved the situation, but was much happier that when Sarah told Chuck to run, he ran. If she told him to stay in the car, he stayed in the car. She'd had to promise him that she would take care of herself. But the deal they'd made was, if he did what she said, she promised she would come back. It wasn't easy on him, but it allowed them to work together. Both of them were happier to be able to accept how they felt and still do the important work the Intersect required.

They'd made another attempt at replacing Chuck. While it didn't explode, it also wasn't nearly as effective as CIA had hoped. Chuck, as it turned out, was much better at assimilating the information of the Intersect than a computer processor. However to Sarah's relief Chuck had refused any further updates to the Intersect info.

General Beckman was not pleased, but Chuck didn't want to be the Intersect forever. Casey, Sarah and Chuck had dealt several harsh blows to Fulcrum this year and Bryce Larkin had managed to assassinate the person believed to be the head of Fulcrum's operations. Fulcrum had been left in Chaos.

It had been an amazing year as Sarah thought about it. It led back to the previous Christmas. Chuck had proven he cared more about Sarah then the problems that lay between them. They had a long talk a few days later in which Chuck admitted he'd seen her shoot Mauser. Sarah had been angry that Chuck disobeyed her. Chuck had been disturbed by the act and the fact she lied, but he hadn't let it ruin her Christmas. When pushed on it he admitted. "Sure I was upset on Christmas, but I wasn't going to let it ruin your first real Christmas." That's when she knew. He didn't like what she'd done, but he cared more about her feelings than his own feelings. There wasn't any turning back then. They had to find a way to make their feelings work for them instead of against them and Sarah thought they'd done a really good job. A year removed from the start of that, Sarah wasn't sure what to expect, but she was excited for the future.

"Can we open it now?" she asked.

"We have to make breakfast first."

"But last year…"

"You can't expect Ellie to make Christmas breakfast every year. She does the dinner."

"But I can't cook!"

Chuck grinned at her. "I know, but you still have to help."

They made coffee cake…with chocolate chips in half. Chuck started making coffee. "Do you want to take your shower before Ellie and Devon get up? You know, prevent a repeat of last year?"

"What was wrong with last year?" Sarah asked.

Chuck rolled his eyes. "You don't remember me invading the bathroom?"

"Of course I remember. It was one of the best parts. I'd have never known how cute your but is, if Ellie and Devon hadn't made you come shower in front of me. Perhaps this year you'll get to sneak a peek at me?"

Chuck was holding a coffee cup and he suddenly froze. Sarah knew she'd pushed it too far. They'd agreed to let up on the sexual innuendo because it couldn't go anywhere and it only added to the sexual frustration. They both battled it, in their own ways. Sarah wasn't exactly sure how Chuck dealt with his. She kept a friend in her nightstand; she had assumed Chuck used the internet. But when she'd asked him about it, he told her there wasn't anybody online who could hold a candle to her, so he didn't bother. With Casey watching his every move, Sarah had no clue where Chuck got his release from. There were some questions you just didn't ask, especially when you were the source of the frustration. "I'm sorry," she said softly.

Chuck nodded. She stepped over and kissed him gently on the lips. "God, I wish we could just…" she stopped talking and pressed her pelvis against him. Chuck didn't have to answer. She could feel his answer against her stomach. "I'll go get cleaned up."

***

Ellie and Devon were already up and sitting at the table when she arrived back in the kitchen. She gave each of them a kiss and a "Merry Christmas." Before she sat down next to Chuck and put her hand on his knee. Chuck slipped his arm around her and kissed her temple.

"I can't believe the wedding is only three months away," Sarah announced after a quiet few minutes.

Ellie's eyes bugged. "Neither can I, I'm never going to get everything done. You still need to get in for your final fitting."

Sarah frowned and Chuck squeezed her. This has been a point of contention between Sarah and Chuck ever since the day Ellie had asked Sarah to be a bridesmaid. Sarah insisted that for the cover or not, she couldn't be in Ellie's bridal party when Chuck and Sarah's relationship didn't have a future. Chuck had insisted that it would be an insult to Ellie to turn her down and that Sarah should do it because Sarah and Ellie's friendship wasn't a cover.

"I'll be sure to do that soon," Sarah replied. She'd been avoiding it, because she was afraid that things would change and she wouldn't make it to the wedding. Sarah lacked the will to do anything more to disappoint Ellie Bartowski.

"So any wedding bells in your future?" Ellie asked.

Sarah spit up the coffee she'd been attempting to drink and Chuck started choking on his coffee cake. "Yeah guys, it's been years. Given any thought to making your arrangement permanent?"

"I've thought about it," Chuck answered. Sarah's head whipped towards him so fast she could feel the blood rushing to one side of her face. "But Sarah and I haven't talked about it."

"Well, Bro, three more months then the pressure will be all on you guys."

Chuck smiled back at Devon. "I think we can handle it."

"Chuck and I…" Sarah started. Then she regretted opening her mouth. Explaining situation was impossible, without blowing their cover. "Well me…mostly, I'm not entirely comfortable with marriage. Chuck knows that, we're taking it really slow."

"You guys take everything slow," Devon replied shaking his head. "Sometimes you just have to dive right in there and take a chance. You know, put a little risk in there. Sure it's dangerous but the rewards are so worth it." He leaned over and kissed Ellie who wrapped her arms around his neck and prevented him from sitting back up straight again. Sarah was losing interest in her coffee cake when Chuck's arm tightened around her.

"We'll get there. I have no doubts about who I want to spend the rest of my life with." Chuck took the opportunity to kiss her on the temple again. Sarah's insides were swimming. Did Chuck really mean that? It sounded…nice, but Sarah wasn't ready to give up being an agent. It's not like they could settle down and start a family. Sarah really wasn't sure the idea of having kids and being a mom appealed to her.

"Shall we open our stockings?" Ellie asked.

"Yes!" Sarah exclaimed.

The rest of them laughed at her enthusiasm but she didn't care. She wanted to know what was in her stocking. This year she strategically waited until Chuck got settled on the couch and then practically sat in his lap. He needed to be closer this year so she could more appropriately show her appreciation.

She opened up the item on top and found a set of sensual massage oils. Sarah turned a quirked and eyebrow at Chuck. "Hey don't look at me," he replied. "I didn't put those in there." Chuck was opening his own stocking and had found something similar in his. Sarah shrugged and put them to the side. Chuck's snort brought her attention back to him though. He was holding a copy of the Kama Sutra. Sarah's felt her face flush briefly. The next item in her stocking was a Victoria's Secret gift card. "Do you think Santa is trying to send us a message?"

"It's kind of subtle, what do you suppose it means?" Sarah asked.

"You guys need more sex!" Devon called from the two person chair that he and Ellie were wedged into.

"Devon!" Ellie cried. Then she added, "It does seem like you guys could use a little more…passion." Sarah felt Chuck stiffen next to her. "But to each their own."

Sarah didn't know what to say. "We…" she started but Chuck grabbed her hand to stop her.

"We are plenty passionate we just don't like to advertise."

"You just seem bottled up, Bro," Devon chipped in. "You have to let that tension out. It's not healthy you could explode."

Chuck's face turned red and Sarah went back to her stocking. Chocolate covered coffee beans, chocolate toffees, chocolate truffles, it was a plethora of her favorites. She found a tiny bottle of her perfume, new socks and there at the bottom was a box containing a small silver charm in the shape of a heart.

"I thought it only appropriate that since you had my mother's charm bracelet and that you have my heart, that you have a charm of my heart." Sarah closed her eyes and let the feelings wash over her. She felt warm, very warm.

"I love you," she whispered.

"I love you too," Chuck replied easily.

They didn't say it often. It was just difficult. It was hard to manage the feelings they had with the limitations on their relationship. But she didn't ever want him to question how she felt. She didn't want to cry, but the tears came just the same. Sarah turned so that she could bury her face in Chuck and wrap her arms around him. It was times like these that she longed do be a _normal_ woman. A woman free to express her emotions in anyway she wanted.

Chuck stayed with her on the couch as Ellie and Devon got dressed for the day. Sarah's body and its desires warred with her mind and its sense. Her mind won, her mind always won, but today as her hand rubbed Chuck's thigh through his pajama pants the battle was fierce.

She spent almost the entire day in Chuck's arms, only separating a handful of times. That night when they settled down to sleep she wrapped herself even more tightly than normal around him. "Chuck?" she questioned a few minutes after they turned of the light.

"Yeah,"

"I wish I could figure out making you feel loved the way you make me feel loved."

Chuck didn't say anything for a while. "Do you trust me?" he finally asked.

"Of course I trust you. I wouldn't' be wrapped around you like a cobra if I didn't trust you."

Chuck hesitated. "Not exactly the analogy I was hoping for in this moment, but it'll work. Do you trust me when I tell you that things will work out for us eventually?"

Sarah wanted to say yes, she really did. Instead she sniffed and attempted to press herself even closer to Chuck. "I want too."

"Well, I just have to ask you to trust me, Sarah. The rest of me will be here, when you're ready for me."


	3. Chapter 3 Castle Awesome 2010

**Castle Awesome 2010 **

_**Disclaimer**__**: Some people own Chuck and some people don't own Chuck. I'm in the don't own Chuck category. If have Chuck and would like to sell Chuck to me at a reasonable price, I'm listening. **_

Sarah was acutely aware that something was wrong the moment she woke up. Her head jerked up and she slid her hand out to the other side of the bed. Chuck wasn't here. She pulled her gun out from under her pillow, checked the magazine and removed the safety. She pulled the covers back and put one foot on the floor when the door opened and she felt Chuck's presence in the room.

She didn't know how she could tell it was him, but she knew and she let out a breath. It had been a difficult year. Fulcrum was gone, wiped out, completely and utterly destroyed. They'd still managed to have a few brushes with terrorism, but the hardest part was that Chuck hadn't flashed in eleven weeks. General Beckman was retiring and was of the opinion that the human intersect project should be shut down. Chuck hadn't had new info updated in twenty six months and his flashes had been less and less frequent.

Nobody would tell her what was going on and Sarah was becoming paranoid. "Chuck, are you okay?" she whispered.

"Yes, I'm fine? What's wrong?"

"I woke up and you were gone…"

"I just got up for a minute, I'm fine."

Sarah let out a very large breath. "Sarah, what's going on?"

"I was just worried, that's all."

"About what?"

Sarah was worried how this assignment was going to end. She couldn't bear to lay all of her concerns at Chuck's feet. Nobody should have to hear the kind of things Sarah worried about. "Chuck…my mission here, if you don't flash soon, they'll call me back."

"Oh…yeah, I guess, that's probably true." Chuck turned on the light exposing the fact that she was holding her gun. "What did you think was going to happen?" Chuck asked nodding towards her gun.

Sarah sighed. "I'm afraid they'll grab you and put you in the cell. That they'll say they are protecting the country or something."

"You think they'd do that?"

"I wouldn't let them."

"But you think they could try."

"You believe me when I tell you I won't let them take you, don't you?"

"Yes, I've always believed you. You've never been willing to let them take me. It's one of the reasons I love you."

Sarah tucked the gun back under the pillow and knee walked across the bed and pulled Chuck to her. "I love you, too. I don't know what I'm going to do when this assignment is over… They'll reassign me…"

"You could quit."

Sarah put her head on his shoulder and hugged him tight. "I'm a spy, Chuck. What do you expect me to do, be a housewife?" Sarah realized what she said, but it was too late too take it back now. Chuck had never even talked about the possibility of them getting married, but she'd been thinking about it all the time lately.

"You can't be a spy forever."

"I'm good at this…"

Chuck cut her off. "You're _great_ at it. But you can't do this forever, what's your exit strategy." Sarah couldn't look at him, she couldn't. "I see, so you're planning to just end up KIA and not worry about it."

"I have to assume…"

"Damn, Sarah, you aren't ever planning on being done?"

"In a few years, if I'm still alive… I don't know."

"Do you love me enough to marry me?"

"What?" She looked up at him. He was giving her a hard look. There wasn't even a hint of amusement.

"Do you love me enough to marry me, here today, do you love me that much?"

"Of course,"

"Do you want to get married?" Chuck asked.

Sarah had never had a panic attack. Ever. But her breath suddenly wouldn't come. Chuck ran to Ellie and Awesome's kitchen and was back in fifteen seconds with a paper bag. She finally managed to ask. "You're proposing to me?" she clarified.

Chuck shrugged. "I'm telling you that I love you and that I don't want to spend the rest of my life without you. I don't know what that means. We can't be married if you're going to be a spy and I never get to see you. We can't be married if you have to do things that a married woman can't do…we can't be married if I'm not allowed to know if you are alive or dead. But if you want to spend your life with me more than you want to be a spy, we'll make it work.

Sarah's voice choked. She did want to spend her life with Chuck. But she was afraid to not be a spy. It was the only thing she knew how to do. "Chuck, I…" _love you. I want to spend my life with you. I don't ever want to let you go. _"can't…yet."

Chuck nodded. "Okay."

Sarah blinked. Her emotions overwhelming her. "Okay, what?" she asked her voice squeaking just slightly.

"Okay, not yet."

"What does that mean?" Sarah asked.

"Well, you didn't say no, that's a step." Chuck shrugged. "I'm not giving up. I love you too much. I've waited this long. I can wait longer."

"Chuck, if I'm still a spy, we won't be together…"

"Can you come visit me between missions?" Sarah shook her head and a tear escaped her eye and rolled down her cheek.

"Well that just sucks," Chuck said nonchalantly. He reached over and rubbed her tear away with his thumb. "You'll come back won't you?"

Sarah tackled him. Chuck over balanced backwards and landed hard on his back, Sarah on top of him. "I love you," she kissed him. "I will do everything in my power too come back."

"Still the human Intersect," Chuck wheezed. "You aren't supposed to hurt me."

Sarah kissed him again, straddling his body. "Wimp."

Chuck slid his hand under Sarah's pajama top and gently rubbed her side. She closed her eyes reveling in the feel of his hand on her skin. It was as close to sex as they got. It'd been so long since either of them had actually had sex she wondered if this might be just as good. She moaned as Chuck began to explore further. "This no sex thing is killing me."

"God damn it," Sarah muttered. "Screw the CIA I want to have sex with my boyfriend."

She reached down and pulled the hem of her pajama top over her head. Chuck gasped and thrust against her. "You like this do you?" Chuck nodded vigorously causing her to giggle. She levered herself up so that she could slide his pajama bottoms off. "You know, I've been waiting for two years for the second half of this show."

***

Chuck and Sarah did not get up early for Christmas. Eventually, Ellie came and knocked, but they ignored her. She was nestled in the crook of Chuck's arm it stretched down her body and was keeping them pressed tightly together. This left Chuck's other hand free to explore her naked body. It was dangerous. He'd already set her off three times since their early morning wake up. Despite his protests that he just couldn't anymore, his hand kept playing with fire.

"How am I supposed to live without this?" Sarah asked.

"You don't have too…as soon as it's been too long you'll just come home."

"Home? I've never had a home."

"Where ever I am? That's your home. I'll keep the stuff that we've collected and that you can't take with you and we'll make a cover story for Awesome and Ellie and then you'll come home and we'll be together." Sarah turned over in his arms and started kissing him again.

Sarah rose up and Chuck muttered, "Again? I'm only a man, Sarah and I'm out of practice."

She giggled in response. "No, I want to go find out what Santa brought me." Sarah could just faintly detect Chuck blushing. "Wow, now I really want to know." She rolled off of him and stood up.

"You know you are amazingly perfect," Chuck announced. It was Sarah's turn to blush. She was suddenly feeling shy, knowing that Chuck was examining her. What if he found a flaw he didn't like? But she stood there and let him look. It was only fair.

"Can I put my clothes on now, its cold out here?"

"Do I get to see you again?" Chuck asked.

"Well…yeah….I'm guessing tonight. Unless you don't want to?" Chuck's face broke out into a smile so wide it must have made his cheeks ache. "Nice poker face."

"I don't want you to question my desire to see you naked."

"Thanks, I appreciate that," Sarah pulled on her pajama bottoms. When she was finished dressing she walked over and hugged him again. "I'm the luckiest girl in the whole wide world," she told him.

"You certainly are," Chuck nodded. "How somebody could do so many crazy and dangerous things without a scratch… OW!" Chuck rubbed his shoulder where Sarah had punched him.

"I meant because I have you, you idiot."

"Right, I'll try and remember that."

***

Ellie and Awesome had long since finished breakfast when they got down stairs. Devon made some crack about Santa babies and got himself whacked by Ellie.

Sarah chose to forgo breakfast and took her coffee over to open her stocking. There would be chocolate in her stocking, there was always chocolate. She dug through the hair products and toothpaste and sure enough there it was CHOCOLATE! Chocolate after sex was so much better than chocolate instead of sex.

Sarah had stuffed several large pieces into her mouth and was waiting for them to melt when she realized Chuck was watching her with an amused grin. "Wha? I'mb humbree," she mumbled. When the chocolate had melted enough for her to talk again she added. "It's your fault." There were two jewelry boxes at the bottom of her stocking this year. The first one was a locket. It was gorgeous the front was adorned with a gold S and on the back was a C. She fidgeted with the clasp but couldn't open it.

Finally, she gave up slid over to Chuck. "Does it open?" She asked

"Of course." He took it from her and started pulling on the little gold pieces, pushing some in, pulling some out, then he pressed the clasp and it opened. He handed it back to her. "It's coded, so it can only be opened if you know the right combination. If you don't know the combination it's nearly impossible. It's made by a man in Simi Valley the damn thing in nearly indestructible. You'll render it inoperable before you break into it."

On the inside was inscribed just one world. 'Always' On the other side was a picture of Chuck and Sarah. She had her arms wrapped around his neck and there temples were pressed together as they looked at the camera. "It's amazing. This must have cost a fortune." Sarah looked up at him a question in her eyes. Chuck didn't have this kind of money.

Chuck shrugged. "You needed a way to keep me with you." His words crushed her. He'd already known that she would leave. He'd assumed she wouldn't stay with him. Somehow he knew her better than she did. She was agonizing over it and Chuck already knew.

She opened the second jewelry box and found a silver charm in the shape of a princess cut diamond. He took it from her and carefully connected it to her Charm bracelet. "Diamonds," he explained, "mean forever. So," he said, fingering the little C and heart he'd got her last year. "You have Chuck, and his heart, forever…"

Sarah grabbed at him and pulled her lips to his ear. "I'm coming back."

"I know you are." Chuck nodded. "I trust you."


	4. Chapter 4 Guayaquil Ecuador 2011

_**Disclaimer**__**: To those that own Chuck, I envy you. I wish I was you, but I'm not, so I write for free to appease a muse whose name I do not know. Whoa is me**_**. **

**Guayaquil Ecuador 2011**

Sarah rolled over and shed her sheet. It was going to be a miserable day. It was only eight in the morning and the backwater hotel suite was already eighty five degrees. There was no air conditioning. She'd arrived yesterday and was supposed to meet up with an agent today and capture a lower level associate of the Diego Cartel. The word was, that he knew the security layout of Carlos Diego's house and Sarah would be breaking into the compound tonight. To succeed she would need the information they gleaned from him.

Torture was not her favorite activity, but like it or not she needed to get up and get ready for it. She took a shower and struggled to get her hair dry with the ancient hair drier provided by the hotel. She lamented the need to dress in all black, it would be stifling, but every piece of clothing she brought was black, so there wasn't much she could do about it. She walked into the front room with her weapons satchel to double check they were ready and froze.

There hanging on the ancient fireplace was her stocking. Today _was_ Christmas, she knew that, it's why they were planning the mission for today. Security would be lighter, but how the hell? The very first thing she did was check the locks on her door. They were still locked, including the security chain.

She moved over the stocking and inspected it for booby traps. Nothing insidious appeared from the outside, so she looked closer. It appeared to be filled full of gifts, the most obvious one being toothpaste sticking out the top. Sarah gingerly lifted it up and dumped the contents out on the floor all at once. Toothpaste, shampoo, travel alarm, gun oil and barrel cleaners, a copy of the exact pocket knife she'd lost in Morocco earlier this year, chocolate and the last thing that tumbled out was a little white jewelry box. Inside the jewelry box was a small silver charm of what appeared be a nerd herder. On the back was engraved in tiny letters 'Buy no More.'

Sarah picked up her phone and called Director Hayes.

"Hi, director? This is Jane Dixon, secure."

"I know, I'm not expected to check in for two more days, but I've had a bit of an incident this morning."

"It's not a big deal, I was just curious if you are familiar with the Intersect project."

"Yes, I'm aware it's top secret."

"Do you know the location of the former human intersect?"

"What do you mean that's classified. Has he been moved?"

"It's important sir,"

"Because I receive a package from the asset this morning."

"A Christmas present sir."

"No, I've confirmed it, it's definitely from him."

"No, you can't have a team of analysts inspect it…"

"It's of a personal nature, sir."

"No, no contact since my extraction in April."

"I don't know how he would have found me, sir, that's why I want to know his location."

"What do you mean, classified above your clearance, you're the head of the CIA!"

"Well when did that happen?"

"Who's in charge?"

"Dammit."

"No, I understand."

"No, I'll continue the mission as planned. Thank you, sir."

Sarah hung up and stared at her phone. According to Director Hayes Chuck had been hired by the government to do something Director Hayes wasn't allowed to know about, on a project Director Hayes wasn't allowed to tell her the name of, run by somebody Sarah wasn't allowed to know. "Well crapsicles."

Knowing she'd regret it later Sarah dialed the only other person she knew of that might know something about where Chuck was.

"Hi, Ellie, it's Sarah,"

"Yeah it's good to hear your voice too."

"No, still teaching in Africa."

"I'm not sure, probably a few more years."

"Yeah, I miss you guys too."

"It's really hard. Is he there?"

"Oh…"

"When as the last time you heard from him?"

"Do you have a way to contact him? I'm afraid I can't get post to him, but give me his mailing address anyway."

"Thanks, how are you guys?"

"That's GREAT! When are you due?"

"Oh my goodness, that's so great! How's Devon doing with it?"

"I can imagine."

"Wow, I'm so happy for you. I wish I could talk more, I really need to go."

"We'll see, I don't make it back to civilization very often."

"It was great to talk to you too. I'll get back there eventually.

"Thanks, I will. Take care of that baby!"

"Bye."

Sarah closed her phone. Ellie was going to have a baby and she wasn't going to be there. From the sounds of things, Chuck wasn't going to be there either. According to Ellie, he'd take a top secret job with the government and the only contact she'd had was a birthday card. It had a P.O. Box as a return address, but Ellie had sent a couple letters and not received any response.

Sarah added the charm to her bracelet and packed away the rest of her treasures in her suit case along with her stocking. "Merry Christmas, Chuck," she said as she patted the stocking.


	5. Chapter 5 Cape Town South Africa 2012

**Cape Town, South Africa 2012**

Sarah was exhausted. She slogged into her apartment at 5:30 in the morning. She'd been out trying to tack down a lead on a weapons smuggler believed to be selling Uranium on the open market. He was known only as Johnas and was reportedly partying it up in Cape Town, South Africa, she had not, however, managed to find him. She'd gone club hopping all night trying to locate anybody by that name. These kinds of searches had been easier when all she needed to do was have the Intersect with her.

She slipped her uncomfortable shoes off and walked around on the carpet. She'd been living in the party scene for three weeks trying to gain an introduction. Men had been propositioning her steadily during the entire assignment and she felt dirty. She didn't mind the sexy clothes, or the flirting, she just wanted to do it for someone else. Plus she'd been purchased thirteen drinks just tonight. She'd had to talk to all those men and pretend to drink their drinks just in case one of them happened to be Johnas or know Johnas or know somebody who actually knows Johnas instead of just telling her that they do to try and get her to have another drink with them.

Sarah peeled off her dress as she walked into her bedroom. She felt filthy and as tired as she was she wanted a shower before she went to bed. As she walked into the bathroom something on her bed caught her eye. Her stocking was propped on her pillow obviously filled. She stared at it in shock. "How the hell did you get here? I left you in a secured storage facility in DC under an assumed frigging name!"

Sarah hadn't heard a peep from Chuck in the last year. The stocking in Ecuador had freaked her out a little, but it was cute and sweet, but she'd been utterly unable to determine how Chuck had done it. How had he found her? How had he gotten into her room? How had he walked into her hotel room planted something and left undetected. It was impossible.

Sarah stood there in her lingerie and dumped the stocking out on her bed. She knew what she was looking for. She grabbed at the white box and opened ripped it open. Inside were ear rings…ear rings. There was a slip underneath it. _You lost a set in Hamburg, I know these won't replace those, but I hope you'll find these as versatile. I love you, C _

"Damn it!" Sarah yelled at the top of her lungs oblivious to her neighbors. "If you're going come and visit at least stick around for a little fun!"

Sarah quickly checked the rest of the contents of her stocking. There was nothing remarkable other than a stuffed bear holding a heart that said WUB YOU TONS!

Sarah wanted to not care about the trinkets and chocolate from her stocking, but the year and a half since she and Chuck had parted ways, she'd never felt so lonely. She opened up the locket he'd given her two years ago and stared at his picture. It was the only picture she allowed her self to travel with. Today, she did what she never allowed herself to do. She cried with the ache of missing him.

She wanted to call Ellie and see if she had heard from him, but it wasn't even Christmas there yet. Devon and Ellie would be asleep. Sarah grabbed some clothes and cab to the airport. Parked herself in front of security checkpoint to the international gates and waited until noon, but she didn't find Chuck. Exhausted and completely drained she headed back to the hotel to sleep away the rest of Christmas with her new stuffed bear. It proved a pretty poor replacement for the man that gave it to her


	6. Chapter 6 Prague The Czech Republic 2013

**Prague,** **The Czech Republic** **2013**

Olga Chezeglik was no fool. You don't become one of the top assassins in the Krevczech family without knowing the score. Olga had risen quickly through the ranks with a reputation of being willing to kill anyone at anytime, frequently in the most brutal way possible. Many people feared her, everybody damn well respected her and many many people wanted her dead. It was this last group that had her concerned tonight.

Olga was waiting for someone, someone who shouldn't be here. This wasn't the first time Olga had sat in the dark facing the door with her gun clutched in her hand. When people wanted you dead, you learned to be ready all the time. She was decked out in mission ready gear. The only clue that this was not a normal mission was that the blade she kept tucked in her sleeve was plastic not metal.

Not able to keep her eyes open any longer in the inky blackness. Olga let her head slip back and closed her eyes. It was the security latch on her door flipping open that alerted her to the fact that something was very wrong. She slid the safety off on her gun and moved it so that she would be able to raise it and fire in an instant.. Nearly two minutes later the lock on her door knob unlocked and Olga heard the knob turn ever so slightly.

Whoever it was had apparently extinguished the lights in the hallway and the inky blackness was uninterrupted as they entered. The lone man moved quickly over to the fireplace and Olga realized he was wearing night vision goggles. Olga stood silently and moved behind the intruder. She holstered her gun and pulled the small blade out of her sleeve and turned it backwards in her hand. Olga jumped on the back of the intruder wrapping her left arm around his neck and putting her blade against his jugular. "Merry Christmas, Santa," she whispered. "Don't speak the room is bugged," she said so quietly she could barely be heard even in the deathly silence of the room. "We're leaving, come quietly if you want to live. Do you understand?" The man nodded almost imperceptibly. He had a package in his arms and clutched it possessively as Olga pulled him towards the door. The man hesitated slightly as she slipped her blade away and pulled out her gun. She tugged him along to the door and opened it as quietly as she could and then slipped out with the man.

Olga took the man to the stairwell and opened the door. The man pulled back from her causing Olga to whip around. The man walked down the hall and unplugged a device from the wall outlet and the lights in the hallway suddenly popped back on. Olga shielded her eyes as the man ripped off his night vision goggles. She couldn't look at him…not yet.

They went down the stairwell until they reached the second floor. Olga slid the door open and walked to the end of the hallway. She pulled the rope from around her shoulders and moved to open the window only find that there was no glass in the pane. It had been cut and completed removed. Olga grasped the grappling hook and started to lean out the window when the man pushed her aside gently and reached out the window to the left. He pulled a rope to the window and offered it to her.

Olga shook her head and indicated that he should go first. The man did not move. She sighed and Olga looked up into the face of the man she loved and pleaded at him with her eyes. He shook his head. He pointed to the window and made some motion with his hand and then held the rope out to her again. Olga shook her head and poked him in the chest and held up one finger. He again shook his head and motioned towards the window. Finally he whispered out loud. "You have to go first, I need to fix the window."

Olga gave him a warning look and grasped the rope she leaned backwards out of the window. She noticed that off to the left the pane of glass had been suction cupped to the wall of the building. She shook her head in disbelief and then grabbed the rope with her legs and slid slowly hand over hand down the rope until her feet touched the ground.

She watched from the ground as the man leaned out the window and clipped himself to a safety clip installed just above the window he pulled the pane of glass off the window and then ran something along the edges of the window. He held the glass in place for a full minute before he released it and then raised up on the rope enough to release the safety clip and then proceeded to climb down the rope.

Olga checked her watch it was 4:49 AM. The man grabbed a bag at the bottom of the rope. He retrieved his phone from the bag, punched in some sort of code and the rope that he had just climbed down fell to the ground with a loud clank, that made Olga's frazzled nerves jump. He picked up the rope and stuffed it into the bag and walked over to Olga. "Where are we going?"

"Where's your car?" Olga asked.

"Two blocks over."

"You lead."

He nodded. The man started walking in what Olga could only assume he thought was an inconspicuous fashion, but instead just made him look ridiculous. If anybody had actually seen him they'd immediately know he was trying to be sneaky. "Stop that," she said when they were out of ear shot of the hotel. "Nobody who's actually trying to be inconspicuous walks like that."

"Sorry," he said and started strolling along much more normally.

They walked to a nondescript red car in the middle of the block and the man opened the trunk and put his bags in. He opened the driver door and Olga got in the passenger door. Before she even knew what happened he was kissing her and she pushed him away. "WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU DOING HERE!" she screamed.

"Um…" Chuck stammered. "I thought it would be pretty obvious. I was delivering your stocking…"

"Chuck…I left that stocking in Fairfield Virginia, for a reason. I don't even want to know how the hell you managed to break into my private weapons stash and get it back, I want to know what in the hell possessed you to come to Prague and walk into the middle of a mafia controlled hotel. YOU COULD HAVE BEEN KILLED! YOU COULD HAVE BLOWN MY COVER! YOU COULD HAVE BEEN CAPTURED AND CAUSED ME TO HAVE TO KILL THE ENTIRE CZECH CRIMINAL UNDERGROUND!!!"

"Uh…"

"WHAT THE HELL WERE YOU THINKING!!!"

"That it's Christmas? I didn't want you to have to go without some real part of Christmas."

"That's sweet," she said. "BUT YOU COULD HAVE BEEN KILLED!"

"I was really careful."

"Chuck, that's a mafia hotel. Every person who has a room there is in the Czech mafia. If any one of them had seen you, they'd have either killed you outright or they would have captured you and tortured you for information. There isn't one good person in that hotel. Do you even know what they'd have done to us if they'd caught you in my room?"

"There was one good person in that hotel," was Chuck's only response.

Sarah grabbed her head in frustration. "We can't stay here. Can you drive this thing?"

Chuck looked insulted. "Of course," he muttered. "I'm not an idiot."

He turned the key in the ignition and took off down the road. "Where's your hotel," Sarah asked.

"I don't have one," he replied tersely.

"What, were you planning to just sleep in your car?"

"I only came to deliver your stocking, I wasn't going to stay."

"You know, if you're going to risk your life every Christmas to bring me a stupid piece of jewelry at least you could stick around so that I could get laid."

Chuck slammed on his breaks in the middle of the street. He turned towards her. "You think the gifts are stupid?"

Sarah paled. "No." She shook her head, but Chuck just stared at her. "I…" Sarah closed her eyes for a moment. "I'm sorry, I'm just angry and frustrated. I love my stocking and I love my gifts. You must realize that I've kept every single item you've given me since the first one. Well…except the chocolate. It's all stored in the same box with the stocking…"

"I noticed," Chuck replied taking his foot off the break and starting them moving again. This was a relief of the delivery van behind them that had been honking angrily. "You know toothpaste actually does have a shelf life. It's better when it's fresh."

"Yeah, well I only have so much Christmas toothpaste and I don't want to use it up, because then it will be gone."

"That's perhaps the third craziest thing anyone as has ever told me," Chuck replied.

"What's the craziest?"

"Oh, some girl once told me I had a government supercomputer stuck in my head. Now that was crazy."

Sarah swatted him. "It was true!"

"Maybe, but still completely insane."

"Where are we going?" Sarah asked.

"I have no clue, you told me to drive."

"Well where were you planning on going until your flight?"

"The airport."

"You didn't find any kind of safe place to stay?"

"I just flew in a few hours ago and my flight leaves at two. I'm not planning on staying, so why would I need a hotel?" Chuck explained.

"So you flew all the way to Prague just to deliver me tiny bottles of shampoo and toothpaste and you're leaving in the morning?"

"Pretty much."

"I'm going to have to hurt you, you know."

"Santa doesn't bring presents to bad girls."

"Find me a hotel room somewhere and I'll prove to you, you're wrong."

Less than a minute later, Chuck had pulled his phone out of his pocket and was furiously booking himself a hotel room. Fifteen minutes later he was checking into the Four Seasons. Twenty two minutes later Sarah was proving that she was indeed a very, very bad girl.

***

Chuck was laying on his back while Sarah drew circles on his chest with her finger. "I'm still mad," she finally announced.

"You don't seem mad."

"Don't confuse sexual satisfaction with happiness. You shouldn't be risking your life. I worked really hard to make sure it was protected."

Chuck kissed the top of her head. "I know, I'm sorry. But I can't bear the thought of you hating Christmas."

"I still hate Christmas," Sarah grumbled.

"What?" Chuck exclaimed in alarm.

"All I want at Christmas is to be with you, but you're always gone by the time I find the stocking. It just makes me feel lonely."

"Oh…"

"Don't get me wrong. I love it and it's meant a lot to me. But this year... I was sitting up there terrified that you'd show, terrified that you wouldn't show and absolutely petrified that something would happen to you before I could get you out of there. Those were some pretty slick tricks by the way. Where did you learn that stuff?"

"I have my ways," Chuck said in his most seductive voice.

"This isn't a game. I don't like it when you put yourself in danger. Can't you understand that?"

Chuck sighed. "Yes, I understand it, do you think that I like that Olga Chezeglik works in a mafia syndicate and could be killed at any moment? Do you think I sleep well at night wondering about if you're okay or not? But I don't try and stop you."

Sarah kissed him on the chest causing him to shiver, so she did it again. "I'm sorry too. I wish you didn't have to worry. But seriously how did you find me? This is deep cover, only a handful of people know where I even am."

"I used my job."

"And what job is that?" Sarah asked skeptically.

"I can't tell you."

"Chuck, come on…"

"Seriously, even Director Hayes can't read you in. You think they'd let a little peon like me tell you? I'm not even allowed to know who my boss is."

"Come on, I'm worried. This all sounds very dodgy."

Chuck sighed. "Okay, you know when all of the sudden you become Olga Chezeglik? She doesn't just spring from the ground fully formed. Someone has to break in the Czech Republics birth records and create one for you. Someone has to go in and put your school records in. Someone has to break into the department of Motor Vehicles and create a record of your driving test. This isn't 1970, everything is stored on computers now, you need a credit history, a passport with a verifiable travel history, you need to have been paying power bills for the last eight years in case someone checks. Everything his stored on computers now, even in the Czech Republic and when you get a new ID someone has to crack all those databases and insert the records. Who do you think does that? Some analyst that works for the CIA? No, they put in a requisition to us and we do it."

"Seriously?" Sarah asked. She was impressed.

"Yes, well, not me personally, I've got a team of people that does it."

"You're management?"

"Well, you know, not management, I'm kind of their supervisor."

"So you're supervising a herd of nerds?" Sarah snickered.

"We are covert record assimilators, but yeah, essentially."

"That's great. I'm proud of you."

Chuck blushed and Sarah was once again fascinated by the fact that it showed on his chest. "Thanks," he mumbled.

"So you use this massive hacking of covert data to track me down and pretend to be Santa."

"I use it to track you all the time. We get all of your item manifests, your credit card records and your reports of any lies you've told on your mission that you need to make true. I do all of your work personally. I don't want anybody but the best working on it. You're cover is your most important asset."

"My very own guardian angel."

"Something like that."

"I love you," Sarah suddenly said.

Chuck let out a long sigh and then squeezed her. I love _you._"

"Do you remember what you told me during our last Christmas together?"

"Of course…"

"I want to come home," Sarah announced.

"Really?" Chuck asked.

"Yeah, I've been talking to Director Hayes about it. My body isn't healing as fast. I don't enjoy the missions as much as I used to. I'm starting to feel more like a tool than a weapon. I'm getting burned out…and…I miss you."

Chuck reached for his phone on the night stand. "I'll get you on my fight out of here."

Sarah grabbed his arm and smiled up at him. "As much as I would love that. I have a mission to finish. I'm just saying, it's time, I want to come home."

"Okay, we'll work it out. As soon as you're done. Don't worry about a thing I'll get everything taken care of at home. I'll be waiting for you."

"Really? Where?"

"It doesn't matter. I'll make sure you find it." Chuck gave her a grin from back in his Buy More days when she could still make him smile by just suggesting a cover date.

"Okay…but, Chuck?"

"Yeah,"

"No more stupid risks with your life okay? I love my stocking and I'm going to open it. Then I'm going to send it home with you. The next time I see it, will be when we can open our stockings together, all right?"

"Okay," he kissed her on the forehead and she snuggled into him.

***

Sarah did open her stocking. When Chuck told her that he needed to go to the airport and she finally let him put his clothes back on, he fished it out of his backpack and gave it to her. It was standard fare mostly. Some perfume, chocolate and ridiculous little Christmas elf, but what Sarah was looking for was the white jewelry box. She opened it quickly and pulled out the little silver clock. Sarah was slightly confused until she turned it over and etched in tiny letters on the back it said. 'I W8 4 U'.

"Thanks," Sarah said in a watery voice. "My charm bracelet is hidden in my gear. I can't afford to wear it here."

Chuck nodded. "It's kind of odd not seeing you wear it. This is the first time I've seen you without it since I gave it to you."

Sarah sighed. "Yeah, I hate missions where I can't wear it. I've used the ear rings though, a lot."

Chuck smiled and walked over and hugged her. "I'm glad you like them."

"I love them."

"I love you."

Sarah untucked her head from Chuck's chin and looked up at him. "I miss you so much. I don't know if I can make it to the end of the mission."

"You can still come home with me. We'll work it out with the CIA."

Sarah gave him a grim smile. "If only, I could. The people I'm fighting against are sponsoring terrorism. I'm fully imbedded. Soon I'll be able to get their contacts, we could do some terrific good here. I can't just walk away and let them continue."

"I know," Chuck pulled her tighter into his hug. "I have to go…"

Sarah squeezed him more tightly. "Please be safe, I'll be home soon."

"You be safe too…"

"I'll do what I can."

Chuck still didn't let her go right away. It was several more minutes before he let her go and picked up his stuff, so she could walk him out of the hotel. They'd only had a few hours together, but it was the best Christmas in years. She'd be home soon. Sarah didn't even know what that meant, but it sounded good.


	7. Chapter 7 Secret Headquarters 2014

_A/N: In a word, awesome. That's how I feel about this chapter. I hope you do too. _

_**Disclaimer**__: I don't own Chuck. Or Sarah either for that matter, or Ellie, or Captain awesome or even Morgan. Anna on the other hand…nope not her either_.

**Bartowski Secret Headquarters, Somewhere outside Arlington, Virginia 2014**

Sarah woke up slowly. The pain hitting her as her senses became aware. She groaned slightly. She wanted to move her arm but it hurt too much. "You ready for your pain killers?" Chuck asked from beside her. She opened her eyes and turned her head slightly so she could see him.

"Yes, please."

She winced as Chuck helped her sit up and tucked a pillow behind her.

He put two pills in her right hand and held up a glass of water for her. She swallowed the pills and then drank half the water. She hated that she was going to be slightly loopy for their first Christmas back together, but she couldn't make it through the pain without it yet. Her surgical incisions were much better, but she needed reconstructive surgery on her shoulder and that wouldn't be happening for at least another month. Until then her left arm was stuck in a sling. She leaned back into the pillows and closed her eyes.

"You're not cuddling me."

"I don't want to hurt you."

"It's worth it," She murmured through a wave of pain and nausea.

"Maybe to you, but I can't stand hurting you."

"It hurts more, not touching you." Chuck sighed and took her hand. She smiled slightly. "When do we get to have sex?" Sarah asked.

Chuck laughed. "I think probably after they fix your shoulder."

"I can't wait that long."

Chuck snickered. "Do you have any suggestions?"

"Just give me something to bite down on and let's go for it."

"Thanks for that visual. That's just what I want for our first time since we got back together."

"I'm tough, I can take it."

"I know you are. Just wait till you get your shoulder fixed. I'll never leave you alone."

"Mmmm that sounds nice. Can we go on a vacation?"

"Sure, anywhere you want."

"Someplace warm?"

"As soon as you're better."

Sarah frowned. "My scars will show."

"They make you look tough."

"But I'm not a CIA agent anymore. I'd rather look sexy for my boyfriend."

"You always look sexy."

Sarah grinned. She disentangled her hand with Chuck's and started running it over his body. She'd gotten decidedly little physical contact since the doctors let her come home. Not that she knew where home was, or that they knew where she was. Chuck's address was classified.

When her final mission in Prague had been set, she'd had no clue how she was going to find him. It ended with a sting at 'the Boss's' house. Olga was on the inside while two SEAL teams took the outside. She'd tracked down Dimitri Krevczech in his study as soon as the shooting had started in earnest, but ended up in a gun battle with his body guards. She taken three rounds one that slipped under her vest at the shoulder and shattered her shoulder joint. Another in the leg that was mostly soft tissue and had gone all the way through and a flesh wound on her hip that she was worried was going to leave a nasty scar right beneath her bikini line.

Olga had thought she was dying. She was relatively sure of it, in fact. The mission was over and she was prepared to tell director Hayes that she was done being a spy. He'd wanted to wait, stretch the mission profile out. Nail more of the crime family's contacts, but there were too many people that were wary of her. Three people had made attempts on her life and one of them had come very close to killing her. She had a promise to keep and she wanted to go home. That's why as she'd lain there bleeding out on the polished mahogany floor she'd been sad more than anything; she really wanted to see Chuck again.

When she'd woken up in a hospital bed, she felt like she'd been run over by a freight train. She was quite literally shocked to be alive, but not nearly as surprised as she was to find her hand grasped firmly in someone's warm hand. Unable to talk, she'd squeezed the hand as hard as she could, which had amounted to almost nothing, but it worked. A head appeared above her. "You're awake!" a familiar voice said. "Thank God, you're awake. What the hell were you thinking? You could have been killed!" he'd said angrily.

Unable to speak she'd looked at him with pleading eyes and he'd forgiven her with a kiss to the forehead. "Thank you, for making it back," he'd told her.

The next day when she was strong enough to talk, the first word she'd uttered was, "Home."

As it turned out, she didn't have to tell Director Hayes that she was leaving the field. He'd come in and informed her about a week after she'd woken up. Her injuries were severe, she'd need many months to recover, reconstructive surgery on her shoulder, which would never be 100% again. He'd presented her with a medal and a signed letter of thank you from the president himself. Then he'd delivered the news. She wasn't cleared for field work anymore. They were concerned that she'd lost her edge. She could get recertified for field work if she wanted when her shoulder healed, but she'd have to prove her body could still handle it. He'd offered her either a desk job or a retirement package and she hadn't thought for even thirty seconds before she told the CIA goodbye.

It had been another two weeks before the doctors had finally allowed her to come home. She'd been shocked by the nerd centric décor of Chuck's 'secret lair.' There were electronics over nearly every surface of the home. A large plasma screen was mounted on the wall. There were two more in the second bedroom that he used as an office when he worked at home. Sarah had kicked all the electronic gizmos out of the bedroom when she arrived to convalesce. She didn't need little lights blinking at her or things beeping, it reminded her of her hospital room.

He had stayed home every day to take care of her and Chuck told her every day that he loved her. Faced with such an assault of open affection she wondered how she'd ever left him in the first place. She'd missed him so much during their time apart, but especially during the last year. If anything it had crystallized for her exactly how much she needed Chuck and she felt selfish that she needed to finish her career with the CIA first. He was right, she _had_ almost died. She wouldn't know what she would have done if she heard Chuck had been killed. She didn't like to think about it. It must have been just as bad or worse for him.

"Feeling better?" Chuck asked her bringing her back to the present. The painkillers were starting to take effect. She hurt just as much, but she cared less.

"Mmmhmm," Sarah mewed.

"Santa came," Chuck said softly.

Sarah opened her eyes and made eye contact with Chuck. "Santa?"

"Yep…"

"Did he bring me something good?"

Chuck frowned. "Doesn't he always?"

"Yeah," Sarah nodded. "I like Santa."

"You want to go open your stocking before your drugs knock you back out again?'

"I don't want to fall asleep again. I don't want to miss Christmas."

"I know."

"If I fall asleep today, no working, okay. I want you to stay with me."

"I promise."

"Help me up?" Sarah asked.

"Of course."

Chuck walked to the other side of the bed and wrapped his arm around her as he pulled her up. "Upsie Sarah," she giggled. She leaned her weight on Chuck as he helped her around the bed.

"Hey, you're supposed to be using your leg, not putting all your weight on me. You heard what the doctor said. You need to start putting weight on it."

"Spoilsport. It's fun to lean on you." She did put a little more weight on her own legs though. Chuck guided her into the living room. Her stocking was hung by the plasma TV which happened to have a video of a roaring fireplace on it. "Cute," she told him. "Where's your stocking?"

Chuck shrugged. "Ellie's I'm guessing."

Sarah frowned. "Have you been home at all since you left?"

"Twice, but it's really hard not being able to tell them anything."

Sarah nodded. "That's the rub of the covert life."

"Yeah, I guess."

Sarah pulled the first item out of her stocking. "Ah good, toothpaste."

Chuck smirked at her. "Can't have Christmas without toothpaste."

"That's a fair point." She reached into her stocking and found a bar of Godiva's "Ah, the real reason I love Christmas so much." Sarah broke off a piece and popped it in her mouth. She found a pair of goofy reindeer ear rings and took a moment to put them in. She hadn't worn any since she woke up at the hospital without any. Chuck had to help her, as she couldn't do it on her own.

"Very classy," Chuck advised her.

"Thanks."

She got through a few more fun items before she found the distinctive white box at the bottom of her stocking. Oh, how the anticipation had built. She couldn't wait to see what charm she'd got this year. Sarah flipped open the lid and found a platinum band with a diamond solitaire staring at her. She flipped the lid back closed and stared at it. The ring was still there on the other side of that lid. She opened it and peeked just to be sure. Yep, it was still there. Her eyes sought Chuck's. Unable to speak she asked the question with her eyes, but he just raised his eyebrows and waited for her question. "Is this what it looks like?" she asked.

"Does it look like an engagement ring?" Chuck replied with his own question.

"Yes…" Sarah agreed. "But…" She tried to wrap her head around the situation. "Well traditionally aren't these accompanied by a question?"

"I already asked you."

"Years ago… Ask me again!" she ordered.

"Okay, which name would you like me to use."

"Sarah!" she insisted. "What else do you call me?"

"Sarah Walker," Chuck started before kneeling before her. "Would you like to become my wife?"

"Yes, I would like that. Are you asking me to _BE_ your wife?"

"Indeed I am."

"Then, yes, please."

"Would you like some help putting that on then?"

Sarah looked down at the box, then frowned. "But my hand is all covered in my sling. I won't be able to see it."

Chuck shrugged. "We can put it on the other hand for now." Sarah nodded vigorously and Chuck slipped it onto the ring finger of her right hand. Then he kissed her. She grabbed behind his head with her one good arm and pulled him down on top of her. It was painful, but she didn't care, she wanted to feel his weight on her. She wanted to believe this was real. Chuck allowed her to keep him on top of her for a few minutes before he pulled away. He sat on the couch with her head on his lap and caressed her face and head. She eventually got sleepy and spent most of the day nestled in Chuck's lap until he eventually got up just to move.

He made her dinner, and then despite her protests, fed her bite by bite. She felt guilty that she hadn't gotten him a present. He bought her a shopping trip to replace most of her wardrobe. What she had in Prague was mostly gone, most everything else she had was several years out of style or didn't fit quite right anymore. She didn't have any idea what kind of wardrobe she would need. She was newly engaged, but had no clue what her next job might be. After dinner Chuck delighted her, by pulling several of the latest bridal magazines out of a closet. He thought she might want to have a look, even if they didn't have a date yet. They hadn't even talked about a date yet. Sarah wanted to know more about her future before she decided when to start changing it.

"We're really bad at sex," Sarah declared once Chuck had her settled in the bed for the night and she was preparing for the triple dose of her pain meds to let her stay asleep.

"What do you mean? I've always thought we were pretty good at it."

"On the rare occasions we can actually figure out doing it. We got engaged today. I WANT SEX!"

"I see what you mean," Chuck acknowledged. "Hmm…let me see what I can do."

He gave her a slow tender kiss being very careful not the hurt her and then slowly he began to let one of his hands wander over her body. It felt heavenly. It had been a year since Chuck had taken liberties with her body, yet her body quickly remembered the feel of his hands. He eventually slipped her pajama pants off and she offered him all the encouragement she could. She winced when she titled on shoulder for a brief moment and Chuck looked hesitant. "Please?" she whimpered and he continued using his fingers and his tongue in fabulous and amazing ways.

"Thank you," she whispered later as he rested his head upon her thigh. She allowed her fingers to play though his hair.

"You're welcome. I hope it didn't hurt too much."

"Best I've felt in ages. What can I do for you?"

"Just get better."

Sarah pouted. "Please?"

Chuck laughed. "I've got it handled."

"So that's your secret!"

Chuck laughed harder. "Take you're pain meds."

"You know every time you don't want to talk about something you can't just pump me full of drugs."

"No, but it'll work for a few more weeks." Chuck trailed kisses up her body until he reached her lips. "Goodnight future Mrs. Charles Irving Bartowski."

"Great, another alias," Sarah deadpanned.

"You only have to change your name this one last time," Chuck assured her.

"Sounds like a very good deal." She swallowed her pain medication and patted the bed next to her. Chuck settled down and she put her arm around him. "I love you," she told him.

"I love you," Chuck answered

Her pain medication caused her thoughts to go dizzy and after a while she felt Chuck moving away from her and realized that she'd been asleep. "Don't go," she begged.

"Sarah, I don't…"

"You weren't hurting me she cut him off. I'm much better, just please curl up with me tonight. Please, I need you."

"Sure," he answered. Chuck turned off the remaining lights and then nestled in close to her his head resting on her good shoulder and he draped an arm over her. At first it was too close to one of her stitches but he moved and she finally fell asleep with Charles Bartowski in her arms again.


	8. Chapter 8 Castle Awesome 2015

**Castle Awesome 2015**

Sarah snuck out of bed at little after 4AM years of CIA training had allowed her to set an internal alarm and wake up whenever she needed. The only complication of that had been Chuck. She always slept like a rock when she was sleeping with Chuck. Not exactly the best trait in a handler protecting an asset, but she didn't have to worry about that anymore. She had mostly normal usage of her shoulder, but she hadn't recovered sufficiently for the rigors of CIA field work. That was okay though, she enjoyed her job as a kickboxing instructor. The hours were flexible and she'd be recording her own workout tape in a few months. A fitness video producer had scouted her class one day and decided she had exactly the look he needed.

She felt a bit silly prancing around in front of the camera in spandex, but the money from the workout videos promised the financial independence she'd need to start a family. Mark the producer said that if she had a kid they could make a killing on postnatal workout videos. Sarah had remained skeptical about the possibility of having kids until they had returned to Los Angeles a few months ago and she'd begun playing with Ben and Tyler on a regular basis. Her body now literally ached to have Chuck's children. It was a very disturbing sensation. They wouldn't even be married until April.

Sarah crept out of the bedroom she was sharing with Chuck and stole down the steps much more silently than was probably really called for given the mission she was on. She reached the mantle in the living room of Castle Awesome to find that Santa had already visited her stocking. She shook her head at how ridiculously good Chuck had become at sneaking around. She'd barely left his side in the last eight weeks and yet both of them had managed to get their Christmas shopping done and at some point he'd left their bed without her knowing. She unzipped the black duffle bag and began filling Chuck's stocking. Ellie had apparently already taken care of the standard fair of toothpaste and other knickknacks. She rearranged the contents of Chuck's stocking and snorted when she found a copy of _Women Explained for Uber Nerds. _Devon was crazy if he thought Chuck could learn anything about her from a book.

She packed up the rest of Chuck's stocking and put it back on the mantle. Then she added a few trinkets to each of the kids heaping stockings. She slipped a bottle of Ellie's favorite perfume and some bubble bath into Ellie's stocking and then stuck a UCLA bobble-head just above Devon's. Her mission completed she crept back up to the guest room and slipped back into bed next to Chuck. His arm immediately came around her and pulled her closer and she sighed contentedly. She was lulled back to sleep by sounds of Chuck's soft breathing and his steady heartbeat against her back.

***

"Uncle Chuck, Aunt Sarah, its Christmas. ITS CHRISTMAS!!!" shouted a young voice, moments before a tiny missile landed on top of them. "Uncle Chuck, Aunt Sarah, wake up, it's Christmas!" it reiterated as it jostled them.

"Ben, come on, I told you'd they'd be up in a bit. If you want your stocking you better begin behaving," came Devon's voice after the missile. "Sorry guys. That is not awesome, Ben. They'll be down in a few, leave them alone."

Sarah sat up to find Ben's face looking pleadingly at her asking her to bail him out of trouble. She wanted to say it was okay, but she knew she shouldn't. "That's okay, buddy. We'll be down in a couple of minutes, okay?"

"Hurry, up, please?" Ben asked as he retreated from the room.

"Sorry, guys," Devon said again as he closed the door behind them. They heard him a moment later out in the hallway. "I don't care if Uncle Chuck said it was okay. I told you not too, and then you disobeyed me. Go to your room till we call you down for breakfast."

Sarah glanced over at Chuck. "So is that what it's going to be like when we have kids. I'm going to take the hard line and you're going to cave in all the time?"

"What? He's supposed to be excited. It's Christmas."

Sarah shook her head. "You're going to be trouble."

"Hey you're the trained CIA operative, if you can't control the kids, what chance do we have anyway?"

Sarah grinned. "I hate to think of the lengths I had to go to, just to get you to stay in the car."

"Hey!" Chuck stuck out his lip in a pout. Sarah whacked him with a pillow. Chuck snagged his pillow and hit her back.

"Oh, you're getting it now!" Sarah jumped up and whirled around just in time to catch another pillow to the face. "Awk!" she squawked in indignation and started flailing at Chuck with her pillow. He was doing a decent job of staying out of her zone of terror. She ducked another swing of his pillow and stepped in close to him. She hooked a leg behind him and then put an arm around him tossing him to the bed.

Sarah leapt on top of him. Grabbing one of Ellie's throw pillows from the top of the bed she whacked him repeatedly in the face with it until he covered his head with his arms and yelled. "Okay, Okay I surrender; I'll stay in the car!"

Sarah adopted a smug look and tossed the pillow away. "Ha, I win!" She looked down at him. He looked so adorable and she shuddered a bit. It still overwhelmed her just how much she loved Chuck, nothing in her life had prepared her to cope with these kinds of feelings. She bent over him and kissed him her hands on either side of his head. The kiss became deeper and she was hungry for it. She could feel her need building in her. She felt Chuck's hands slide up her legs and under pajama top. It was becoming a very interesting Christmas morning.

Suddenly Chuck's fingers dug into her ribs, eliciting a shriek from her. She squirmed away from him, but he followed her and continued his efforts to tickle her. She screamed and hopped off the bed. "CHARLES BARTOWSKI!" she shouted angrily holding her hands out in front of her. But he got around her and tickled her again. She shrieked and fled, opening the door and running into the hallway and down the stairs.

Chuck was right behind her as they showed up tussled, red cheeked and panting in the kitchen. Devon raised an eyebrow at them. "Problems guys?"

"No." Sarah shrugged smiling sweetly. Chuck's arm came around her and his fingers found the sensitive spot he'd just been tickling. Sarah elbowed him hard to the stomach causing him to groan.

Devon smiled at them. "Tickle fight, Awesome. You guys want to go tell Ben that breakfast is ready?" Tyler was already seated in his high chair.

"Sure," Chuck replied. He turned and started walking back to the stairs.

"Wait for me!" Sarah yelled and she ran and hopped on his back wrapping her legs around his waist and her arms around his neck.

Chuck gamely struggled up the stairs to Ben's room. He opened the door. "Breakfast is ready, buddy."

"Can I have a piggie back ride?" Ben asked.

"Sure!" Sarah said before Chuck could answer. "Hop on!"

"Oh, geez, are you trying to kill me?"

"Come on, Chuck," Sarah said kicking him gently. "You're the man of Christmas miracles, let's see some magic."

Chuck took the first step down the stairs and the groaned as he said. "Okay, buddy, hop on." It took Ben a moment to scramble up, but Sarah took one hand off of Chuck to wrap it around her back and support Ben.

"Let's go," she ordered.

"Easy for you to say," Chuck whined. He took the steps very carefully. He was teetering a bit and Sarah felt just the slightest bit sorry for him, but he had tickled her. Nobody was allowed to tickle her, so she held onto Ben and kept her grip tight. "Okay, we're here," Chuck gasped as he stopped in the kitchen. Taking pity on him Sarah slipped off his back before she put Ben down.

Sarah gave Ben a high five. "Good job!"

"What about me? I carried both of you?" Chuck asked.

Sarah stood up and leaned into Chuck and kissed him on the neck. "I'll thank you later." She grinned when she felt Chuck shiver.

They had a nice breakfast. It was cheery and light. Sarah had missed Ellie and Devon while she'd been on other assignments, but what she hadn't counted on was how much they'd missed her. Ellie had been beside herself on Chuck and Sarah's first trip back to Los Angeles. Sarah wasn't sure anybody had ever cried just from seeing her before. It had scared her a bit, when she was honest with herself, but Ellie had been so happy to see them. She kept switching back and forth between hugging Chuck and hugging her. Then she'd been so happy, insisting that Sarah and Chuck cancel their hotel reservations to stay with them. Since the moment Chuck and Sarah had moved back to Los Angeles she'd seen Ellie nearly every day. Sometimes it was just for a few minutes or a cup off coffee. Ellie and Devon had even joined her kickboxing class, but they were a constant part of Chuck and Sarah's lives.

She watched them as they opened their stockings. Chuck eventually nudged her. "You don't want to know what Santa brought you this year?" he asked. "Did you lose your excitement for toothpaste?"

Sarah moved over a bit so she could snuggle with Chuck. "I'm just realizing something."

"What's that?"

"You know how much I love my stocking right?"

Chuck nodded and his hand rubbed her back and side in a loving caress. She was momentarily distracted by the feel of his hand. God how she loved it when he touched her. "As much as I love everything about my stocking, I think I like watching them open theirs more," she explained.

"Of course," Chuck nodded.

"What do you mean, of course?" Sarah elbowed him lightly.

"You love them. You enjoy seeing them happy, but that's why you have to open your stocking too. Because they love you and they want to see you be happy. That's what Christmas is about, family. That's why you belong here. That's why you've always belonged here. That's why I kept bringing you your stocking every Christmas. This is your family and it has been ever since even before we gave you a stocking on our mantle."

Sarah snaked her arms around Chuck and laid her head on his chest and held him. "How come you're so smart?" Sarah asked. "How come you always know how I feel?"

Chuck laughed. "I wish I always knew how you felt. If I'd never met John Casey, you'd be the most emotionally closed off person I know.

Sarah poked Chuck in retaliation for his crack. Then she reached into Chuck's stocking a pulled out the book on women. "You don't need this," she informed him.

"Oh, really?" Chuck asked. "I think it was a rather brilliant and thoughtful gift."

"You already know me better than I know myself and I don't really want you learning about other women."

"Hmm… I'll just have to concentrate on this item, then." Chuck held up the copy of _Night Crawler 3: Silent Doom_

"You got _Night Crawler 3?" _Ben said excitedly. "Can I play?"

"NO!" Ellie exclaimed. "You will not be playing that."

"But, Uncle Chuck…" Ben started before he was cut off by Ellie.

"Won't be playing it either. I don't want that kind of violence around here."

Chuck raised his eyebrows at Sarah and then smirked. "Shut up," she told him.

She dug through her own stocking looking for the white box at the bottom. "Whoah, I've never seen such blatant disregard for chocolate and tooth paste," Chuck admonished her.

"I know what I want…"

"Really, what do you want?"

"I want it to be April 4th already."

Chuck gave her a wide happy grin. She loved that grin. "Me too, but I don't think that's in your stocking."

Sarah shrugged. "Oh, well, there's always something good down here. A HA!" she cried in victory. She removed a white box. Inside she found a key. "A key?" she asked Chuck.

"Very observant."

"Keep it, up, you know I'll get you back for your smart mouth." Sarah gave him a challenging look and he responded with a Cheshire Cat grin that made her want to smack him. "Okay, smart guy, what is my key for?"

"A lock, I'm guessing."

"Chuck…" Sarah said warningly.

"You want to go for a walk?" Chuck asked.

"What?"

"You know, a little Christmas stroll?"

"Why?"

"I just thought you might want to stretch your legs. Let's go get dressed," Chuck suggested.

"You're being very mysterious," Sarah informed him.

"It's not like I'm devious…"

"Hey guys, we're going to go get changed and go for a little walk."

"Have fun," Ellie replied. Ellie knew, Sarah was sure of it, she had a look.

Chuck had already proposed, what else could he be hiding?

They got changed and Chuck and Sarah walked outside the front door of Devon and Ellie's and Chuck started strolling down the sidewalk. Sarah glanced around them but didn't see anything suspicious. She followed after him and put her arm through is elbow. "Where are we going?"

"I thought we were taking a walk?" Chuck replied.

"Okay…"

They wandered through Ellie and Devon's neighborhood. It was a pleasant neighborhood full of two story houses with small yards. There was a park not far from where they lived and Chuck and Sarah wandered through it. "I like it here. I wish it wasn't so far from downtown."

"Would you really want to live so close to Ellie?"

"Are you kidding, yeah? Why wouldn't I?"

"Well it would be harder to hide what you do in your home office if they can just stop by..."

"Maybe, but it would be great to be able to stay so close to them."

"Chuck is, this, the key to a house?"

"In a way."

"You bought a house?" Sarah asked skeptically.

"Oh, no, no way, not without talking to you about it."

"Then what is it?"

"You haven't figured it out yet?"

"Chuuuuuuuuuuuuuuck…" Sarah moaned.

"Okay, Okay, come on," Chuck put an arm around her and they started back towards Devon and Ellie's. Chuck stopped her in the driveway.

"Chuck, just tell me!"

"We're here, use your key…"

It didn't register right away. Ellie and Devon's garage was always locked. I had been since ever since Chuck and Sarah had come back. She'd never though much of it, it was no longer her job to invade people's privacy.. Sarah took the key and unlocked the side door and stepped inside. It was dark. She flipped on the light. "Surprise!!!" several voices shouted causing her to nearly jump out of her skin.

"What?" Sarah asked. Devon, Ellie and Ben were standing in the garage. Tyler was in Ellie's arms they were standing around a car…her car. "My Porsche?" Sarah asked.

"Chuck told us how you had to sell it when you went to Africa…" Ellie explained. "One of Devon's friends bought it from you and we bought it from him as soon as you left. We've had it ever since. Chuck sent a check for it a couple of years ago. It's been here waiting for you. He said you wouldn't want to part with it."

Sarah turned and looked at Chuck in astonishment. "You kept my Porsche for me?"

"The keys are in it," Devon offered. "He walked around the car and kissed her on the cheek. "Merry Christmas, Sarah. Come on guys, lets give them a chance to try it out." Devon hit the automatic garage door opener as he pulled Ben out the door and Ellie came and hugged her before she and Tyler followed.

"You bought my Porsche?" Sarah asked again… She couldn't seem to wrap her mind around it. She loved this car.

Chuck smiled and hugged her. "It's the only part of your cover that wasn't really a cover…you loved this car. You were torn up when you had to sell it. I thought you might like to keep it…"

"But Ellie and Devon…"

"Love you and were happy to help me out. Come on, lets go for a drive," Chuck opened the car door and sat her inside. She fired it up and it started right up sounding just like it had the last time she drove it. There were fifteen thousand extra miles on it, but other than that it was just like she left it. "They drive it to work a couple times a week and I drive it when I'm out here, but it's still yours," Chuck offered as he watched her run her fingers over the console."

"Chuck…this is amazing…" her voice cracked. "I can't ever…"

"You don't have too," Chuck replied. "You did 100% more than this when you were protecting me. I love you." He kissed her, but she was still too in shock to really notice it much. "Come on, let's cruise over to Morgan and Anna's wish their kids Merry Christmas." Sarah put the car in gear and let the clutch out slowly and it zipped forward just like it always had. A few minutes later she was cruising down the 405 towards Torrance and the last few years were just a bad memory. It was just she and Chuck in Los Angeles at Christmas.

***

After they'd had dinner that night and the dishes had been done. Chuck was reading a story to Ben, Devon was watching football in the den and Sarah and Ellie sat down at the kitchen table over a pot of mint tea. "I love how much you love Christmas," Ellie told her after they'd been chatting for a few minutes.

"What?"

"You just melt into Chuck when you open your stocking…I just…You're never as expressive as you are on Christmas. It's neat."

Sarah blushed. "That's all Chuck. I didn't like Christmas very much when I was kid. My mom died when I was really young and my Dad…well my Dad, he isn't a very good person. I grew up resenting Christmas and how happy people were. I never really got it…until Chuck…" Sarah smiled whimsically. "He fixes the dark spots inside me."

"He's pretty great isn't he?" Ellie asked squeezing Sarah's hand.

"He's my own personal Santa Claus," Sarah said as she watched him reading to Ben.

She hadn't noticed Ellie moving until she felt the other woman's arms around her. "Thanks for bringing him home."

***

Sarah was at home. They'd come back to their apartment when Ben went to bed. They'd taken Sarah's Porsche. Now Sarah was nestled in the crook of Chuck's arm her head on his shoulder as she traced patterns on his chest.

"I have to hand it to you," she said.

"Huh?" Chuck asked sleepily.

"Do you remember the first time you invited me to Christmas?"

"Sure…at the yogurt shop, right? Right before Fulcrum turned the Buy More into a drive through."

"Yep, that was it. Do you remember your sales pitch?"

"Prepare to be heart warmed…"

"I expected you to fail," Sarah interrupted him. "I had never liked Christmas. I was afraid that your efforts to make me enjoy it would make me bitter. I underestimated you..."

"Does this mean you're heart warmed?"

Sarah giggled and picked her head up so she could kiss him. "It's safe to say you have melted my heart. Christmas is my favorite day of the year. I never thought that could happen." Chuck pulled her closer and she slid a leg over him so that she was laying across him look down into his beautiful eyes. "Merry Christmas, Chuck."

"Merry Christmas, Sarah."

_A/N: Well that's it. I hope you enjoyed my Chuck/Sarah Christmas tale. I'll get back to work on Chuck vs. The Doldrums now. Thanks to everyone who left a review. In the immortal words of Devon Woodcomb, you're awesome!_


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